Sleep
by Celonhael
Summary: Sango's return, good and bad ideas, Sesshomaru and Izumi
1. Chapter 1

The change was unbelieveable.  
The rain had fallen for the past 2 days. It was a light rain, and sadly didn't correct a lot that the drought had done, but at this point now, every rain drop was precious, and needed.  
There was no more dust covering everything. The trees had managed to perk up a little, and looked green again. The grass underfoot, while still burned, at least no longer crunched when you walked over it.  
And the circle of friends was complete once again.  
As Izumi had promised, Sango's wound, though returned, wasn't life-threatening. She rested in the hut given to them by the village they returned to. The village of demons, hanyou and humans was swiftly becoming a second home to InuYasha's group, and it seemed they were liked by the villagers as well.  
While not life-threatening, Sango's wound had been severe, and she was very weak. Pale with bloodloss, she lay sleeping most of the day, awakening long enough to drink some soup or broth, and falling asleep again. The healers of the village had washed her, cleaned her wound, bound it, and settled her in to sleep.  
Sango was unnaturally pale, almost white. Dark circles under her eyes were testament to the amount of blood she had lost. But to her friends she was beautiful. Beautiful, and alive.  
Kirara spent almost all day curled up beside her, sleeping as well, purring like a small train, bathed in the scent of her beloved mistress.  
Everyone was beside themselves with joy, although InuYasha, as ever, was more subdued about it. Each of them checked in on her constantly, just affirming that she was back, was alive, had returned with them. InuYasha sat beside the small hut, his back to a wall, eyes closed, seemingly asleep. But he was aware of every soft sound from within the hut; Kagome's voice as she murmured to Sango, encouraging her to drink. Sango's quiet breathing. Even the fact that her scent had returned to them, lifted the hanyou's heart.  
Sango wasn't the only one who had walked through hardship, although hers had been a spiritual journey.  
Miroku seemed as if he had walked for miles over hot coals, and was now allowed to relax. While his face still seemed guarded, even wary, he no longer seemed so _weary_. He never ventured far from the hut, as if concerned Sango might somehow be in need of him. Kagome often saw him resting beneath a tree, face turned up to the sky, eyes closed. But now and again he would open his eyes, looking up into the branches overhead, lost in thought. It almost seemed he was healing as well.  
InuYasha was thinking about the conversation he had had with Amaterasu. For all the fact that she was supposed to be the good one in this upcoming war, the goddess seemed content to play games with her own "soldiers". Although she told InuYasha she had not known Sango had been going to die, she certainly hadn't had any trouble with taking the demon slayer and making her some sort of...Celestial Warrior, neither dead nor alive, in order to kill that Rorantan thing. And hadn't let her friends know about it.  
Perhaps because there had been a small chance that Sango might not have lived?  
A shadow fell over him, and he looked up to see Kagome standing there, watching him.  
"Mind some company?" she asked.  
Blinking, InuYasha shook his head, and made a little room for her. Kagome knelt beside him, and studied him.  
InuYasha stared back, not sure what to say or do. Kagome seemed to be searching for something, and he had no idea what it was.  
Finally, she spoke, "How are you feeling?"  
InuYasha blinked again, then shrugged, "Alright, I guess. I mean...Sango's back, right?"  
Kagome smiled, "Yes, Sango's back."  
InuYasha smiled back. It was good to see her looking more...herself.  
"Where's DarkWind?" he asked, surprising himself. It was out before he knew it - he didn't really care where the Kageri was.  
"Oh, I sent him off for a while."  
InuYasha blinked, "What?"  
Kagome smiled, "You know that woman in the village, the one that hyponotised those men into leaving?"  
InuYasha nodded, "The one that used to be a Kageri, yeah."  
Kagome nodded, "Yeah. Well...I guess she and DarkWind...sort of had something."  
InuYasha blinked.  
"Anyway, he likes to visit her, and I'm not about to say no, so..."  
InuYasha nodded again, more than willing to have Kagome visit without DarkWind around.  
"So...what about you?"  
"What me?" she asked.  
InuYasha faltered, "I mean, how are you doing? You're ok, right?"  
Kagome blinked, pleased he thought to ask. Maybe he wasn't slipping as deeply into his old ways as she feared, "I'm good now. Now that she's back. Oh InuYasha, I missed her so much."  
"Yeah," InuYasha said lowly, as if afraid someone would overhear, "Me too."  
Kagome smiled at him.  
"Have you been talking to her at all?" InuYasha asked, "About...you know."  
She shook her head, "She's still so tired. Eating exhausts her, she's lost so much blood."  
InuYasha nodded, and was suddenly taken back to that time, so long ago, when Kagome had been so horribly injured by that demon. How much blood she had lost. The village healer had been sure she was going to die. How tired Kagome had been, how weak.  
InuYasha unconsciously brushed a hand across his face for a second, before looking back to her, "So she hasn't said anything?"  
"She asked what happened. What happened to the thing her and Miroku were fighting. And where Miroku was. I...I don't think she remembers anything else of what happened. Nothing."  
"Well..." InuYasha looked down at his hands, "Maybe that's for the best anyway."  
Kagome nodded. She remembered that she had...had died, as well. Twice now, if memory served her. Once at the well...though she had no memory of that, not really. Just...sort of...being a ghost. But it was all twisted and made no sense.  
The other memory she had was of falling off the mountain side, and...hitting bottom.  
Subconsciously, she raised a hand, touching the back of her head. She remembered pain there, and when she awoke, under the control of the Shikon, how the back of her head had felt so...mixed up.  
Kagome's stomach rolled.  
"What's wrong?"  
She looked up to see InuYasha watching her closely, and uneasy look on his face.  
"What do you mean?"  
"You just...you just got a horrible look on your face. You went pale."  
InuYasha watched her touch the back of her head, and suddenly bring her hand down, as if burnt. He frowned, not sure what had happened, but he hadn't liked it.  
"Just bad memories. Best forgotten," Kagome said, shaking her head.  
InuYasha studied her in silence for a second, then nodded. He wasn't going to push if she didn't want.  
They sat side by side, looking out into the heart of the village, watching as people walked back and forth. The well had filled with water again, and people were eagerly filling buckets to take back to their houses.  
Kagome watched as a little boy, a hanyou with wide green eyes, filled a bucket that was a little too big for him, and tried to lift it. He staggered a little, but an older child, this one a human child from the looks of him, ran over and grabbed the bucket. Grinning, the two children supported the bucket, and started walking off with it.  
_I like it here,_ she thought, _There is so much love amongst all the people here. Everyone here learned to accept everyone else, be they demon, human, or hanyou. This...this is a place InuYasha should have grown up in._  
Kagome glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, watching him as he watched the others.  
_I wonder what he would have been like, if he hadn't grown up alone and always being attacked? If he had grown up with love and acceptance, like the children here? That other hanyou, Tensio, had told her that being prickly and tense and going around with a chip on your shoulder all the time, that was just a part of being a hanyou. Of knowing you were being judged, but...here he wouldn't have been._  
She watched the children as they vanished from sight, _His life would have been so different. He probably wouldn't have grown up angry all the time. And he wouldn't have met Kikyo. Or me, for that matter. Or the others. But he might have had other friends. Hanyou friends._  
Kagome's eye was suddenly taken by a pretty young hanyou who waved at the elders as she walked by. Her skin was a soft blue, her hair curly and green, the same color as her eyes. She didn't seem to have ears at all, but soft, feathery gills in the same place.  
_He might have met another hanyou...and fallen in love..._  
A strange feeling moved through her at that thought. It would have been good for him, to find someone that fitted him so perfectly...  
"Kagome?"  
Kagome blinked, startled out of her reverie, to find him looking closely at her, "Uh, huh? Yes?"  
"I asked if you thought we should tell Sango what happened to her?"  
"Oh. Well...not yet, certainly. She needs to heal. But when she gets better...I think we should, yes. I mean...that's the kind of thing a person should know about. Besides...I think she's going to notice Miroku's new look, don't you?"  
InuYasha sighed, leaning back against the hut wall, "Yeah. Although maybe he'll take up his robes again? Now that she's back, I mean?"  
Kagome made a disagreeing sound, "I doubt it. Knowing Miroku, he'll still feel like he failed her somehow. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let's just celebrate that she's back."  
InuYasha, keeping his head touching the wall of the hut, shifted a little so he could still see her, and nodded.  
Kagome smiled.  
InuYasha smiled back, and for a second, debated taking her hand. But he was afraid of what might happen, so he shifted, resting both his hands on his legs instead.

Her head ached.  
As she slowly swam up from the darkness, that was the first thing she realized.  
Her head ached.  
And she was thirsty.  
Slowly opening her eyes, Sango waited for everything to focus. She was a little alarmed at how long it took, but slowly, everything came into focus, clearing enough for her to see.  
She was in the small hut they had been staying at before. There were dried herbs hung from the rafters, little bunches here and there, tied with colored string. Sango couldn't remember seeing them there before, but she felt so dizzy it almost didn't matter.  
Something had happened. Something bad. But what?  
She couldn't place it. But she knew _something_ was wrong. Why was she lying on the floor, for one thing, covered up? Why was she cold? Surely the heat wave and drought hadn't broken while she was asleep?  
_Had_ she been asleep? It seemed like she knew time had passed, but...  
Sango closed her eyes, frowning as she tried to move an arm. It felt like it weighted about 80 pounds.  
Beside her, she could hear Kirara purring loudly, and felt the heat of her small furry body pressed against her.  
Sango tried to speak, but only managed a parched creak.  
Instantly, Kirara was moving, squirming out from in under the blankets, her small eyes focused brightly on Sango's face. A fraction of a second later, and she was out the gap in the door.  
Sango tried to swallow, but her throat was dry as sand.  
Why was she so thirsty?  
Sunlight flooded in the small room as the door opened, and Kirara skittered back in, Miroku behind her. He quickly moved to her side, kneeling, "Sango?"  
"Thi-" she could only croak, but thankfully, Miroku knew what she wanted. He poured some water into a wooden cup, and gently lifted her so she could drink. He held the cup to her lips, carefully letting her sip only a small bit at a time. The water tasted so wonderfully fresh, and for some reason, Sango felt tears trying to prick her eyes.  
After drinking, Miroku eased her back down to rest again, carefully tucking the blanket in around her.  
"Miroku." Even after drinking, her voice didn't sound like her own, and it frightened her.  
"Sango?"  
"What...what happened?"  
Miroku watched her face carefully, and though she was dizzy, she thought she saw Miroku pale.  
She spoke again, "Something...happened, didn't it?" Her voice was just a whisper, "Someone...hurt? Me? Is that why I'm lying here?"  
"Sssh, Sango. You need to rest." He reached out, and lightly brushed the bangs from her forehead, "Rest. There will be plenty of time for talking later."  
"Is...everyone...alright? Please, tell me..."  
"Everyone is fine, Sango." Miroku's voice was soft, "As you are, too. You we-" his voice caught for a second, but he smiled at her, and spoke again, "You were injured. Badly. But you're going to be well, I promise you. But you need to rest."  
"I'm...so tired. Everything...aches."  
"Yes, well, that's why you need to rest."  
Sango fell silent, watching his face. Something was wrong. There was a look on his face Sango couldn't remember seeing before...something she didn't like. It was similar to the time he had been taken by Neith...and tortured.  
"Are you ok, Miroku? You ... look...like you've been sick, too."  
Miroku slid a hand under the blanket, lightly taking her hand in his. He gently started to stroke it, "I haven't been sick, Sango, no. Just...just very worried about you. But now that you're back...now that you're here...there's no reason to worry, is there?"  
Confusion drew Sango up farther from the foggy world she was in. Something was very wrong with Miroku.  
"Miroku, something's happened. What's happened?"  
"Nothing has hap-"  
"I see it in your eyes, Miroku. Your eyes always give everything away."  
Miroku fell silent.  
"Now tell me what happened."  
Miroku watched her in silence for a second, then smiled. It wasn't his old smile, and that frightened her, but it was an honest smile.  
"I promise you, I'll explain everything when you're better. For now, you're going to have to trust me, Sango. Everyone is safe, and well. Including you. You just need to rest, and heal."  
"You promise?"  
"With all my heart."  
Sango nodded. She was about to speak, when something that had been knocking on her subconscious suddenly came into focus.  
She frowned, "Miroku? Why are you dressed like that?"  
He stopped, even the movement of his hand stopped. A slightly self-mocking smile came over his face, "That's a long story, and again, nothing for you to worry about. All will be cleared when you heal up."  
Sango said nothing, just watched him, uneasy. He was hiding something. She knew him very well. And he was hiding something.  
"Now," he said, "Do you want any more water? Broth? Another blanket, anything?"  
"No...I'm ok."  
"Then rest some more. Your guardian - " here he nodded to Kirara, who had taken up her post at Sango's side again, " - will come and get someone if you are in need of anything. _Don't_ try to get it yourself."  
"I doubt I could anyway," she said.  
Miroku smiled softly.  
"Good. Then sleep."  
Sango was about to ask him something else, when he gently brought her hand out from in under the blanket. He lowered his head, and gently pressed his lips to her knuckles, his hair falling to cover his face as he did.  
For some reason, that frightened Sango than anything else he had had said so far. It was such a _personal_ thing, she felt her heart both speed up at the touch, and stutter in fear. Yes, something was _very_ wrong, and it even seemed to come from the fact that his hair was now hanging freely. Though surely that was just because he had just bathed or something? Surely?  
Lifting his head, Miroku covered her gently, and with a nod to Kirara, rose, and slipped back out through the door.  
Kirara moved onto Sango's shoulder, and made happy-feet, gently kneading a place to settle down.  
"What's happened, Kirara?" Sango whispered to her friend, "What really happened?"  
Kirara only lifted her head, and made that soft, kittenish mew that only she seemed to be able to make. Watching intently.  
Sango wanted to talk to Kirara, to explain what she was feeling. But exhaustion overcame her again, and she slipped back into darkness.

"Oh hey." Kagome spoke.  
InuYasha looked up at her voice, blinking to see someone standing before them. The sun was behind them, and he had to raise a hand to shade his eyes to make them out.  
The tall one was Tenshio. The handsome hanyou nodded politely to InuYasha and Kagome. The one standing next to him was the pretty young woman Kagome had seen before, with the pale blue skin and green hair. She smiled at InuYasha and Kagome, dipping in a half bow, "Hello."  
"How is your friend?" Tenshio asked.  
Kagome was reminded again how alike Sesshomaru Tenshio was. Very tall and slender, face ususally impassive. Although unlike Sesshomaru, Tenshio didn't make you feel as if the wrong would would cause him to whip out his sword and try to lop off your head.  
"She's doing well, thank you," Kagome said. Tenshio's eyes were a startling orange, so bright in comparison with his black hair. His long hair had been made into many, many thin braids, and then pulled back into a ponytail. Two swords were strapped to his hips.  
"It is good she returned," Tenshio said, his voice calm, "There is too much darkness in this world." The older hanyou seemed to study InuYasha as he said this, though he wasn't speaking in an accusetory manner. More as if he were just judging InuYasha's mood.  
The lovely young hanyou smiled, again, "The elders asked me to check up on you, see if there was anything you needed. They are very thankful that you deepened the well for us."  
"You're welcome...um..."  
"Oh!" the young woman blushed very faintly. It made her cheeks appear a pale lavender, "I am Chichiko. Please forgive my forgetfulness!"  
Kagome smiled, unable to help herself. Although the woman was her own age, she was so cute, "It's fine. Pleased to meet you, Chichiko."  
"Please remember, if there is anything you want or need, just ask! The elders want you to know you are as welcome here as your own homes."  
"That's very kind, thank you."  
She bowed to them, and turned, heading back towards the center of the village. Tenshio, seeming to be expecting InuYasha to say something, waited a moment before turning and walking back. InuYasha had done his best to ignore him, going so far as to put his hands behind his head and close his eyes while leaning back against the hut, as if asleep. Kagome found his attitude odd.  
"Um...InuYasha?"  
He didn't move, "Yeah?"  
"Are...is...what's up with Tenshio?"  
InuYasha blinked at her, lowering his hands, "Huh?"  
Kagome studied him, "It's like there's something between you two. Like you know each other or something."  
InuYasha looked away, as if disinterested, "Yeah we know each other, we met first time we showed up here."  
"No, I mean...like there's something else. And the weird thing is, I get the feeling he makes you uneasy."  
He didn't meet her face, just shrugged, "That's stupid."  
Kagome fell silent. InuYasha's quick retreat into his earlier, blunt ways only spoke all the more that something was up.  
"Are you sure?"  
"Sure I'm sure. He's just a hanyou, like me. Nothing more, nothing less."  
Kagome watched him for a second, but didn't like that he wasn't meeting her gaze, "Alright then."


	2. Chapter 2

The bucket splashed down into the small stream, catching the current and trying to move along with it. InuYasha grasped the handle, holding onto it until the filled, before lifting it out. The hanyou stood, looking back towards the village.  
It was cool here deeper in the forest. The air was still warm, but still not as hot as out in the village. Kagome had sent him for water, and he had decided against using the well in the center of the village. He wasn't sure how much water had returned, and would rather save it for the villagers themselves. It was no big deal to walk a little farther away to get the water.  
Her voice came to him, _"It's like there's something between you two, like you know each other or something. The weird thing is, I get the feeling he makes you uneasy."_  
InuYasha looked down at the water in the pail, and quietly snorted.  
"Uneasy. Yeah, you can say that."  
It had been Tenshio that had told him that for his own sake, to walk away from his friends.  
His human friends.  
Not that they wouldn't understand him, like some stupid hanyou he had met before had tried to tell him. InuYasha knew his friends understood him quite well. And what they didn't understand, they...just accepted.  
No...it was for a different reason Tenshio advised him to leave them behind.  
Because they were human. As a hanyou, InuYasha had a much longer life ahead of him. At least another 200 years...maybe more. His friends...maybe 80.  
At most.  
InuYasha knew Tenshio was trying to help him. Trying to save him the hurt that he himself had suffered. Watching his friends age, grow old, and die.  
Watching the woman he loved, become aged, withered and stooped. Unable to defend her against time. Against age. And still living on. Alone. Missing them.  
InuYasha clenched his fists, feeling the tips of his talons digging into his palms.  
He didn't care, he...  
They were more than just friends, now. They were family. And he could no more just walk away from them now, than he could sprout wings and fly. What Tenshio wanted him to avoid was too late. They were his. They belonged to him now. And if he had to watch as they grew older and died, then...he would.  
He would.  
InuYasha took a deep breath, and turned to head back towards the village.  
He froze, midstep, when a familiar scent moved over him.  
He paused.  
Kikyo.

Izumi perched on the edge of a boulder, looking up into the sky. Her feet were drawn up under her, perched much like a young girl might, feet tucked under her. Her hands were resting loosely in her lap.  
She was alone. She had sent Mikado, Kagura, and Aratok on ahead, saying she needed to do some things here before she returned.  
Unsure, Mikado wanted to wait. As did Aratok. The giant winged man watched her face, uneasy, hoping she would give him some order that would keep him by her side. But she did not, and told him to go back. She would talk to him when she needed him next.  
Once alone, she perched on the boulder, looking up at the blue sky above.  
She felt lost.  
_Why did you not tell me what you were planning, Mother Amaterasu? Why did you keep this from me?_  
Her goddess' voice came to her, warm and comforting, _You could not know, daughter. Much needed to happen at that time. Even I did not know if my gamble would pay off. There was a chance Sango would not have survived._  
_Then how could you send her against that thing?_  
Amaterasu's voice sounded regretful, _She was but a single step from death, Izumi. That is not something I did, but it was true all the same. If she failed...she would die. As she had been meant to. If not...well...then we would have won a great step in this battle.  
And she __**did**__ win. And because of that, I was able to bring her from the edge of death, back to her friends, where she belonged._  
Izumi sighed. She felt so tired. Only one day had passed since the battle, and the stars were starting to come out. InuYasha had taken Sango to the little village they were staying in, and there she would rest, and heal.  
But she felt so tired. So old. Things were moving so quickly now, she couldn't keep track of them all.  
_You are weary, child,_ Amaterasu said, her voice full of sorrow, _I wish I could take this from you._  
_In time, Mother Amaterasu. In time, I will sleep, with my ancestors. There is still much to do. I only pray I have the strength to do what you need of me._  
Izumi felt the Goddess's warm wrap around her, as if wanting to soothe, to hold her as a mother would her child. But there was only so much grief and exhaustion even a goddess could lift from her.  
Izumi closed her eyes, face still titled up towards the darkening sky, eyelashes a black lace against her cheeks, long hair falling like ink down her back.  
Izumi felt herself drifting slightly. Not asleep, just resting, going a little deeper than normal.  
After a few minutes, there was a sound, and she turned, to see Sesshomaru standing there.  
The Demon Lord was motionless, like a silver flame, watching her. Izumi shifted slightly, she felt a little silly to be just sitting there, in commune with her Goddess. She always seemed to feel naked when she was talking to Amaterasu, for some reason, and preferred privacy. But she stilled as she looked at him.  
Sesshomaru was looking at her, in a position as if he had been walking and had seen her, and startled, had frozen in place. There was a strange look on his face that as she looked at him, unnerved her slightly. The Demon Lord seemed as if he had been caught off guard, somehow. Unsure. He had a strange unguarded look on his face, as if both startled to see her there...  
and struck by something he had seen.  
Izumi found her voice, "Lord Sesshomaru?"  
Sesshomaru shifted, and turned his face from her, as if bored, looking out into the forest. She saw the cool mask slide back into place, but the open, unguarded look had been there.  
And it made her feel very strange.  
But then...everything was making her feel strange lately.  
"I had thought you would have returned with the others, to the Celestial Castle," he said, sounding disinterested, "Yet I caught your scent here."  
"Yes."  
Izumi said nothing else, and he grew slightly impatient for an answer, "Why do you linger here?"  
Izumi looked from him, out over the plain, where the battle had taken place, "I don't know."  
Sesshomaru turned, looking at her fully. A faint frown formed on his face, "Your voice..."  
Izumi looked back at him, "Yes?"  
Sesshomaru did not move, did not speak. He just looked at her for a second. A night bird called nearby.  
Sesshomaru walked towards her, a tall flame. He stood beside her, looking down at her, his golden eyes searching.  
Sesshomaru spoke again, his voice lower, "You are exhausted, My Lady."  
Izumi just looked back at him, did not smile, did not refute it. There were dark circles forming under her eyes.  
Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes. Izumi should have normally laughed it away. Made some excuse, or chided him for pointing out her flaws.  
Now she just looked at him, eyes dark in a pale face, and the Demon Lord was suddenly swept with the realization that Izumi was utterly, completely, on the verge of collapse.  
He watched her, silently, not entirely sure was he was supposed to do. She obviously needed to rest.  
"This is not the result of that battle. That was little to you."  
Izumi turned her head, brushing a hand over her face, "No. Not the battle."  
"What, then?"  
Silence.  
He spoke, his voice hardening, "Your time here draws close, does it not?"  
Izumi turned back to him, her eyes wide, "What do you mean?"  
He said nothing.  
Izumi looked away, her voice tired, "Mikado told you?"  
"She did, but it was not from her I learned of this. It was Muzan."  
Izumi turned back to him again, blinking, "Muzan?"  
Sesshomaru said nothing.  
Izumi studied his face, then closed her eyes and looked away, "Yes. My time grows close. And I do not wish to speak of it."  
Sesshomaru frowned. From what Mikado had told him, death was what Izumi _wanted_. Rest.  
Sleep.  
But Izumi herself acted differently.  
The wind rustled between them, tugging at their clothing, their hair.  
"Will you return to the Celestial Palace, then?"  
"No," her voice was soft, "Tonight I wish to sleep under the stars. As I did, so long ago."  
Sesshomaru fell silent again. He was about to speak - although he had no idea what he had been going to say - when Izumi spoke again, "It's funny. I am so tired. But I cannot sleep."  
"And why not?"  
"There are so many things running around in my head. Around and around and around like mice. Like cannons, exploding thoughts against the inside of my head."  
Sesshomaru studied her. He suddenly remembered seeing her walking with his father, arm in arm, talking. Smiling. As like sister and brother.  
Another image. Of himself. Asleep on the grass as a youth. Unaware there were things out there that, at that time, could have slain him.  
The image of Izumi. Softly stepping up to him as he slept. Kneeling beside him. Casting a circle of protection about him without his knowledge.  
Lightly touching the crescent moon on his forhead.  
The crescent moon that seemed to burn whenever he remembered that image.  
Remembering them both, walking, arm in arm, a few short times after they had met. He had offered her his one arm, and she had gladly taken it. And they had walked together in the forest. Talking. She would look up at him - but not a great deal, for she was a tall woman, the top of her head coming to the tips of his ears - and smile. Laugh.  
Memories of...  
Of what?  
A strange, pleasant feeling within him. Not lust. Not power. Something else. Something he was not familiar with at all.  
The warmth of her arm in his.  
The feel of her walking beside him. Stepping together.  
He found himself speaking, "Can you walk?"  
Izumi turned back and looked at him, "Walk?"  
"There is a place not far from here. You can rest, if you wish." he attempted to look disinterested, and failed.  
Izumi looked down at the plain, far below, at the lights of the campfires of the army. Or what was left of it. She watched it for a long time, and the Demon Lord found himself growing angry.  
Could she not put aside her responsibilities for one night?  
"Yes," she said, surprising him, "I can. I think."  
Gathering her skirts, she slid from the boulder, dropping down onto her feet. She gave a very slight stumble, but caught herself easily. Brushing invisible dirt from her skirt, she turned to him, to follow.  
He surprised her by stepping aside, and offering her his arm.  
She paused, but only for a second, and slipped her arm in his.  
He was pleased to see she lifted her head, and smiled at him, even though it was a tired smile.  
The Demon Lord turned, and started leading her along a very faint path, away from the plain, towards the forest.  
"You claim," he said, "your mind is full of thoughts, like wars in your head."  
"Yes."  
"Then allow them out. Release them into the night."  
Izumi looked up at him as they walked together. The Demon Lord's face was not on her; he was looking ahead, the way they were walking. But not being able to look into his eyes, it was hard for Izumi to know if he was jesting or serious. It would be an odd thing, if he were serious.  
But then again, it would be an odd thing if he were jesting, as well.  
She remembered when they first met. Well, shortly after. How he would show her his polite side, offering her his arm. She often wondered if it was some strange manner he had of proving to himself he was capable of it. Or if it just amused him at the time.  
Studying his face, she found herself realizing that the Demon Lord had been acting oddly as of late. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he seemed more...  
There was no word, really. Not _settled_, not _unaggressive_, but more...  
Mentally, she shook her head.  
He turned at that moment, and met her eyes, and she was suddenly struck by the look in his eyes.  
They were so unguarded. No longer cool and unemotional. He was obviously awaiting her answer. Awaiting her response. Actively listening to her.  
He looked so like InuYasha.  
Izumi managed to hide her shock well, turning it into a motion of brushing a lock of hair behind her head; a motion the Demon Lord noticed.  
"Let them out into the night? I fear if I open my mouth, everything will come rushing out and drown us both in a river of stress."  
She looked back up into his face, and was relieved to see an amused arch of a brow.  
Izumi found herself softly laughing.  
They walked on again, in silence. The light got darker as they walked, the silence deeper.  
"I find it odd you ask me to unburden myself," Izumi said, "I hope you forgive me, but you do not seem a man who is used to dealing with heavy stresses of responsibility, Lord Sesshomaru."  
She kept her eyes on the path, but smiled, relived, when he spoke, his voice richer, amused, "You would be right."

"There," Tristar said, placing one last rock atop the secondary well. There wasn't a lot of water running beneath the surface, but it would do for the crops. She had called the water up from the ground, and now it pooled in the shadows of the stone.  
DarkWind smiled, brushing his hands of dust after he had laid a stone on the other end, "A second source of water is always good to have."  
"Indeed. Especially now with the drought."  
The lovely young woman turned, walking over to where she had some food laid out. She settled on a fallen log, and picked up a small bowl of fruit. There wasn't a lot there, but she held it out to him, "Are you hungry?"  
"Actually, I am," DarkWind said, perching beside her. He took one of the small pieces of fruit, and bit into it, "I am not used to eating food. Well...not used to be hungry, that is. I still need very little, but I find I grow hungry now if I do not eat in a while."  
DarkWind took another bite of the fruit, chomping happily. The apricot was a little dry inside, but still tasted sweet.  
He glanced at Tristar, and blinked to see her staring at him. DarkWind found himself brushing his face with his other hand, thinking perhaps he had food on his face.  
Tristar laughed, shaking her head, "No, you're good."  
"Why were you staring at me?" he asked, laughing, when he had swallowed.  
The smile faltered a little on Tristar's face, and she looked back to the ground, "Nothing."  
"Tristar," DarkWind said firmly, "You always were a very terrible liar. Even back at the Spire."  
Tristar looked at him, her dark brown eyes searching.  
"Do you...still think of the Spire?"  
DarkWind nodded solomnly, "I do. They were good times. We were happy. We were free."  
Tristar said nothing, just watched him. DarkWind looked at her, and smiled, "Of course, some of us are already free. You are very lucky."  
Tristat nodded, "My old master was very kind to me. He treated me like a daughter. And as he was dying, he freed me. He said he couldn't bear to think of anyone ever ordering me around anymore. Even though my powers were only in water and light."  
DarkWind smiled at her. She smiled back, but he caught her looking at his eye - where the symbol marking him as Kageri had been broken. No longer whole, there was a gap in the circle now, a small spot of clear skin breaking the circle. Self consciously, DarkWind lifted a hand, and touched it. Sometimes, he expected it to hurt, or burn.  
Tristar blushed, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't stare, it's not right."  
DarkWind smiled, "You may look all you wish. You know that." He smiled softly at her, and she smiled back.  
"I...I cannot believe that your Master took you back, even as a Broken."  
"Yes," DarkWind said softly, smiling into the distance, "My Nushi is a good hearted person. Kind, and caring. She ...Tristar, she wept when she thought I would be taken and lost. She fought to have me returned to her."  
Tristar, the woman who had once been a Kageri, smiled happily, "Rare are such Masters."  
DarkStar chuckled, then sighed.  
Tristar held out the bowl to him, tilting her head, "There was a lot unsaid in that sigh."  
DarkWind smiled ruefully at her, "My Nushi is a very confused woman, Tristar. There is much she wants, and she does not know it."  
"Well...it is your job to tell her, you know that."  
"That is just it. She doesn't want to be told."  
Tristar frowned, "Huh?"  
DarkWind settled back against the trunk of a tree, "My Nushi, Kagome, was once in love with the man with the silver hair and funny ears."  
"The one who dresses all in red?"  
"That's him."  
"I _thought_ he looked at her in a very kindly manner."  
"Yes," DarkWind agreed, "And he once loved her. And still does. But he loved another as well."  
Tristar nodded, waiting.  
"My Nushi was not happy with this. As you know, humans and demons seem to prefer to have one love, and only one. So there is always tension and unhappiness when something goes awry. Which it always does."  
Tristar nodded, still listening.  
"Well...the man with the silver hair, InuYasha-Warrior, took something that he, Miroku-Monk, Sango-Beauty, and Nushi had spent a very long time putting together, and gave it to this other woman. Putting this thing together was what brought them all together and made them good friends. So Nushi put a great emphasis on it. But InuYasha-Warrior took it and offered it to this other woman."  
Tristar waited.  
DarkWind gave Tristar a meaningful look, "_Without_ Nushi's permission."  
Tristar blinked, "Oh dear."  
"So over the long and the short of it, Nushi fell out of love with InuYasha-Warrior."  
"Ah," Tristar said sadly.  
"Oh so she thought." DarkWind looked at Tristar out of the corner of her eye. Blinking, Tristar leaned forward, "Oooo."  
"I can sense that Nushi still loves InuYasha-Warrior. Way, deep deep in her heart. Like a ember, hiding under burnt logs. But there."  
"And she won't let you shake InuYasha-Warrior around until he swears never to do that again? That's what I would expect any Master to do, order you to do just that."  
"Ah, alas, no." DarkWind said regretfully, "That would end all the trouble so easily. She wishes to remain friends with InuYasha-Warrior. Friends only. But InuYasha-Warrior does not want this. He still loves Nushi, very much. I see it in his face, hear it in his words. As does Nushi. But she pushes him away, because she is frightened."  
"Frightened of what?"  
"Frighetned he will hurt her again."  
"Why, but that is simple to fix," Tristar said, "Your master merely orders you to tell InuYasha-Warrior that if he betrays your master again, you will do something horrible to him."  
"As I said," DarkWind sighed, "She does not want me to threaten him. And to be honest, I am glad. I _like_ InuYasha-Warrior. I would be saddened if I had to threaten him. Sadder still if I had to actually do something horrible to him."  
Tristar thought this over, then spoke, "You're right. You are in a very confusing relationship with your Master, DarkWind. A lesser Kageri could not handle all that without going mad, I think."  
DarkWind smiled, lightly taking her hand, nodding in thanks. After a second, he spoke again.  
"It gets more confusing."  
Tristar blinked, "What?"  
"Yes. Nushi, as all my female masters, is beginning to have feelings for me."  
"Naturally," Tristar said, "It is the way it is."  
DarkWind nodded, "Kageri have glamour upon them, and our masters usually fall in love with us. Or if nothing else, are physically attracted to us. I have been as a lover to my other female masters. I have never had any complaints from any of them." DarkWind spoke proudly.  
Tristat nodded again. This was the normal way of Kageri. DarkWind had every right to be proud of his ability to make his female masters happy.  
"The thing is...I can sense that she would not want me to be her lover."  
Tristar blinked again, "Why not?"  
DarkWind scratched his head, "It is very confusing, as I said. She was hurt once. And she knows that someday her and I will part. As is the normal way of things. She fears becoming hurt again. She knows that her growing desire of me is most likely just a result of me being a Kageri."  
"Your Master is very wise."  
"Oh she is," DarkWind said fondly.  
"So you just have to make sure you treat her very un-desirebly, and all will be well."  
DarkWind said nothing. Tristar looked at him, "No?"  
DarkWind sighed, "I am supposed to give her what she needs. That is part of my services. And what do I do if I sense she needs physical pleasure to ease her mind or heart, but I also know if I do please her physically, she may become upset afterwards? I am being pulled in two directions. I am being given two orders, as it were, that contradict each other. And..."  
He fell silent.  
Tristar looked at him. DarkWind looked at her, and she saw he was speaking from the heart.  
"Tristar, I...do not know if it is because of the kindness she has shown me, or the fact she took me in as a Broken, but...I am coming to have very strong feelings for Kagome-Nushi. Feelings that I do not think originate because I am Kageri and she is my Master."  
Tristar blinked. This was unheard of. She had never heard of a Kageri coming to have strong feelings for their Master, no matter how nice.  
"Surely you are mistaken. A Kageri comes to love their master as well as their master loves them. You know this."  
DarkWind shook his head, "No, Tristar. Because I am finding myself wanting to do things that would go against what she would tell me."  
"What do you mean?"  
"There was a battle a few days ago. A very big battle. Nushi was in the middle, fighting, and I was by her side. She fought little, because I kept most of the enemy from her. I began to fear it was growing too dangerous, so I took her into the sky, above the fighting."  
Tristar laughed, "That is only because you are Kageri! You are expected to protect her from all things!"  
DarkWind shook his head, "No, Tristar. It is not the same. Because if she had told me to take her back down...I would have refused."  
Tristar blinked, "You are mistaken."  
DarkWind shook his head again, "No. I am not."  
Tristar fell silent, thinking.


	3. Chapter 3

The Demon Lord stepped over a small ditch in the ground - a ditch that would once have been filled with water, and reached back, offering her a hand.  
Izumi paused, smiling softly. She remembered another night, so long ago now, it seemed, when he had done the very same thing. Of course, then, he had had only one arm. She had remarked on his manners, then.  
Sesshomaru seemed to be having the same thoughts, "I have a choice of arms now, to offer you."  
Izumi softly chuckled, and slipped her hand in his. Letting him guide him over the ditch, to stand beside him again.  
He paused, looking down at her, she looking up at him, and for the very first time, the first time ever since meeting him face to face as an adult, Izumi was struck by just how handsome Sesshomaru was. Exotic. Bordering on beautiful. Almond-shaped golden eyes. Long silver hair. Fair skin. So very tall.  
For the first time, Izumi saw Sesshomaru as a man, not the son of her long lost friend.  
Sesshomaru tilted his head, "Izumi?"  
"Nothing," she said, tucking a stray strand behind an ear.  
Sesshomaru arched a brow, but said nothing. He offered her his arm again, and she took it, and they started to walk again.  
"So," she said, trying to clear the image that had jumped unbidden into her head, "What is it you would have me speak of?"  
They moved together along the path, "You spoke of thoughts that haunted you. Let them escape."  
Izumi smiled, "The Lord Sesshomaru asks to hear of another's troubles?"  
He did not turn, did not look at her, but she saw his eyes narrow slightly, felt him tense slightly, and she instantly regretted it.  
"Forgive me," she said quickly, surprising herself for apologising for a simple jest, "That was unnecessary."  
They walked on in silence again. Izumi had a strange thought...it was so rare for the Demon Lord to be...relaxed? She regretted ruining it.  
She cleared her throat, and spoke, "A great deal I cannot speak of, Lord Sesshomaru."  
"Secrets," he said, his voice suddenly back to his old manner of speaking, cold and almost acidic.  
Izumi felt sorrow inside, for some reason she could not understand, but spoke gently, "No. I feel I have very few secrets from you now, Lord Sesshomaru."  
They walked in silence, not speaking. A glance at his face told Izumi the Demon Lord seemed to be considering her words. At any rate, the stiffness in his form seemed to dissapate.  
"I simply meant," she said calmly, "They would concern things you wouldn't understand, because they happened so long ago, or to people who mean nothing to you. It would take a week or more just to fill you in on the people before I could tell you of what had been done."  
Sesshomaru glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, seeming to consider her words. After a second, he looked ahead, nodding slightly.  
They came to a tiny spring, when he stopped, and turned to her.  
"Speak of what you can, then. Surely your head is not filled with nothing but these complex mysterious stresses?"  
Izumi smiled despite herself, "No. I...I think of other things."  
"Such as?"  
She looked up at his face, thinking about her words.  
After a second, she spoke.  
"I just...worry...I suppose...about what I am doing. If I am doing the right thing. About what happened with Sango. I understand Mother Amaterasu's decision, but I cannot help but feel..."  
Sesshomaru waited.  
"Upset. That I was not told."  
An amused arch of a brow, "You are upset with your Goddess? That surprises me."  
Izumi cast him an exasperated look.  
"How goes the war, for your Goddess?"  
Izumi paused, looking into his face again. It was so unlike the Demon Lord.  
"Well enough, I suppose. Battles are taking place on other realms, other levels. But on this one, the main one, both sides jockey for position. Things are coming to a head."

_Mother Amaterasu_ she thought, _His face is so unguarded. He actually looks interested in what I am saying. Why has he changed so much? What happened to him?_  
"I think of Ichi. Poor Ichi," Izumi raised her hands, and lightly rubbed her face, "And all those who have fallen before me. I think of your father, Sesshomaru, and how much I miss him. I think of all that must yet be done. And how it could all still fall apart."  
She sighed deeply, and looked up at him. He still stood there, still, watching her face.  
"And this tires you?"  
Izumi smiled faintly, "This, and more. I have been awake too long."  
Sesshomaru scowled, looking away.  
Izumi paused, then spoke softly, "Does it bother you?"  
"Should it?"  
Izumi suddenly grew angry, "Why must you answer my question with a question? Can you not just answer?"  
He looked back at her, a little startled at her sudden anger, but showing nothing.  
Izumi looked away, "Forgive me."  
"Anger is not your way."  
"No."  
Pause.  
She suddenly looked at him, and he was struck by just how tired she looked. He motioned to a fallen log, soft with dried moss, "Sit."  
Izumi said nothing, just turned, and walked to the log, seating herself upon it. Sesshomaru seated himself across from her. Izumi looked at another fallen log, this one smaller, more between them. With a whispered word and a pass of her hand, the smaller log sprang into fire, lighting the small area.  
"If nothing of important is happening at this moment, why do you not sleep?"  
Izumi studied him in silence for a few minutes, then spoke. Her question was not expected.  
"Lord Sesshomaru, do you dream?"  
A little surprised, he frowned, "Dream?"  
"Yes. I have been told some demons do not dream. Do you?"  
Sesshomaru was suddenly reminded of the strange dream he often had as a youth, of the voice speaking to him, telling him of a great coming disaster, of everything fading. vanishing. Falling.  
"Sometimes, I do." he admitted, "Is it important?"  
Izumi tiredly rubbed a hand across her face, "Without sleep there are no dreams. And without dreams..."  
He waited.  
Izumi looked at him over the fire, "We tend to...fall apart."  
The fire crackled.  
"And what do you dream of, Lady, when you dream?"  
Izumi smiled faintly, "Your father."  
Sesshomaru frowned.  
"I miss him. And Izayoi. They were my closest friends."  
Pause.  
Sesshomaru spoke, "You once mentioned that you fought with my father in a battle for his lands. Against who?"  
Izumi smoothed the skirts around her, "It was a demon called Hotataksu."  
"Hotataksu. I do not know this name."  
"I expect not," she smiled faintly, "This battle was long, long before you were born. And both InuTashio and I defeated him soundly."  
There was a pause. The fire popped as a knot was devoured.  
Sesshomaru tried to appear disinterested, but spoke, "And how was it that you met?"  
Izumi shifted, settling her bottom on the ground, leaning back against the log, "We were both hunting in the forest, for the same person. He had committed a crime against another Senmin at that time. His name is not important. I hunted him for that reason. Your father hunted him for having insulted him during a battle." She regarded the Demon Lord over the fire, "You are very like him, you know. In manners, speech and movement. Very alike. Although, of course, you are not him. You have your own ways."  
Sesshomaru studied her. He was about to speak, not quiet sure just what he was going to ask, when she spoke again, "When first we met, it was not as friends. Your father saw me as someone meddling in his affairs. To his credit, he tried to politely warn me off, and when that didn't work, he sent a few attacks my way."  
Sesshomaru listened.  
"I think he thought, at first, I was a demon. He sent a few WindScar attacks my way, but I simply stopped them."  
"I imagine," Sesshomaru said dryly, "He was not amused."  
"No. He was not. It was one of the few times I ever actually saw your father red with anger. No matter what he threw at me, I was able to deflect. Finally, having no choice but to listen to me...that or literally self-destruct with anger...he realized who I was. We worked together...having no choice at that time. And in time, we became friends. He often sought me out merely to talk. And of course, I enjoyed his company very much. It was very nice, having someone who did not age so quickly. Someone who did not bow to me, or treat me as my rank requires. I could just be Izumi. That meant a great deal to me."  
"My father was not impressed with the titles of others."  
"Nor are you," Izumi smiled at him, "which is wh-" she stopped.  
Sesshomaru regarded her closely, "Yes?"  
Izumi clasped her hands together, resting them in her lap, "Which is why our friendship means a great deal to me as well, Sesshomaru."  
Sesshomaru did not answer, nor did she really expect him to. But simply not denying their friendship was an indication that the Demon Lord accepted their friendship as well.  
The Demon Lord studied her. Face pale, eyes dark, hair like ink. Izumi had once told him that she regarded her beauty as non-important. She had once referred to it as a trap. He found this odd, as didn't all women desire to be beautiful?  
He found himself speaking, "You once told me, My Lady, that you would tell me the story of how you became a Senmin. If you are not too tired, I should like to hear it."  
Izumi looked at him, startled.  
"I have asked you before, Lord Sesshomaru, not to call me that."  
"Are you not a lady? Have my eyes been so easily decieved? You will forgive me if I have seen no sense of the masculine about you."  
Izumi blinked at him, and burst out laughing.  
"Yes, in that, I am guilty. I am a woman. But you do not need to be so formal."  
"You are a woman of note. A woman of worth. Therefore I shall call you Lady. The story?"  
Izumi frowned a little, exasperated.  
"That story, Lord Sesshomaru, is very long. Forgive me, but I cannot relate that tonight. I do promise you, though, that when I am rested, if you ask again, I will tell you."  
"You will forgive me," he said, his voice a little cool, "If I say that you are merely stalling."  
Izumi shook her head, "No, Sesshomaru. I swear to you I am not. But I grow weary."  
Sesshomaru frowned. He considered her for a moment,then spoke.  
"Then rest."  
"What, here?"  
Sesshomaru motioned around them, "Did you not say you wish to sleep beneath the stars? This is a safe clearing. It is warm. You have a fire. The ground is soft with grass."  
"And what of you?"  
"Me?"  
"You told me once you hardly slept. It seems rather rude to just lie down here and go to sleep, making you leave."  
"I did not say I was leaving."  
Izumi blinked, "I...excuse me?"  
Sesshomaru looked away, as if bored, "I did not say I was leaving. I have nothing to attend to."  
"You're staying here?"  
He looked back at her, golden eyes seemingly bright in the firelight, "Is there a reason I should go? Does my presence offend you?"  
"No, of course not! But..."  
"Yes?"  
"Well...I mean...what are you going to do?"  
"Do?"  
"Surely you're not going to just..sit there...while I sleep?"  
Sesshomaru leaned back against a tree, "There is no reason I cannot rest here as well. This clearing is pleasant."  
With that, the Demon Lord closed his eyes, as if all to be said had been said.  
Izumi regarded him with a little despair. She felt oddly uncomfortable. She was used to sleeping alone, either in her room near the Celestial Palace, or out under the stars. She never even slept near Mikado.  
Not moving, not opening his eyes, Sesshomaru spoke, "Surely you do not expect me to leap across this fire and attack you. I assure you, I do not plan on ravishing you as you sleep."  
Izumi felt her face grow hot - a very odd sensation.  
"I didn't...I wouldn't think such a thing of you, Lord Sesshomaru."  
"Then why do you pause?"  
"I was just..." she faltered. Izumi felt very odd, out of sorts and confused. It was such a new feeling for her, she found herself fighting for words. No one had ever really treated her this way, and she wasn't sure what to do. She knew if she insisted on privacy, he would leave...  
Wouldn't he?  
As she watched him, he opened his eyes, regarding her, awaiting an answer.  
"I...didn't expect you to...want to sleep away from Rin. I know you value your solitude."  
Sesshomaru seemed bored, "Rin is well taken care of, as long as she is with my beast, the one she calls Ah and Un. Jakken, for his part, will mostly likely attempt some care, although I have found Rin to be very resourceful. And my solitude is mine to partake of or not."  
Izumi felt at a loss.  
Sesshomaru spoke, and this time his voice was oddly quiet.  
"Rest, My Lady. I will assure you are not disturbed."  
Izumi cast about, trying to find some sort of reason why she couldn't just lie down and go to sleep, but found nothing. Exhausted, worn out and drooping, Izumi turned. She stretched out on her side, gazing into the fire. It was easier than meeting the Demon Lord's strange golden gaze tonight.  
She closed her eyes. Within seconds, she was asleep.

"Oh, you're awake!"  
Kagome squeezed into the small hut, kneeling down beside Sango. She put a hand to the demon slayer's face, "How do you feel?" Inside, Kagome nodded in approval. Sango's skin was no longer so cold; she was starting to get warm.  
"Still tired," Sango croaked, "And sore. My body...I feel like I have broken ribs. Do I?"  
"No, you're ok. Now, I mean. You just need to heal. Which you're doing wonderfully. Are you thirsty? Hungry?"  
"I...a little hungry."  
"Ok. I have some food to heat up for you. I'll make you toast - that's nice and simple and easy on the stomach."  
Kagome started taking out the things she would need to cook outside.  
"Kagome?"  
"Hmm?"  
"What's wrong with Miroku?"  
Kagome paused, looking over her shoulder at the other woman, "Uh..what?"  
"Miroku. He was in here earlier, and he's acting so strange. Is he ok? What happened? I don't remember anything. How did I get hurt?"  
"Sango, you nee-'  
"Please, Kagome. I need to know what happened, and I know you'll tell me. What happened? Is Miroku ok?"  
"Miroku is ok," she said a little lamely, "As for you, well...do you remember fighting that thing that came out of the portal?"  
"I..remember..." Sango frowned, "We fought it, and...something...it threw..."  
Sango's eyes grew wide, "It threw a spear. A huge spear! Miroku managed to dodge it, but..."  
She looked at Kagome, shock on her face.  
"It's ok!" Kagome said, waving her hands at Sango, "You were hurt, but you're alive, see? You just need to heal up, that's all. You got hurt really really bad, but as you can see, you're alive and everything!"  
Sango watched Kagome's face.  
For her part, Kagome tried to keep her face as neutral as possible. She wasn't _lying_ to Sango, just omitting a _lot_.  
"And...Miroku?"  
"Miroku...was...really upset you were hurt, that's all. He's just relieved you're ok. So he's acting a little weird."  
Sango frowned.  
"Please, Sango. You trust me, right?"  
"Of course, Sister. Bu-"  
"Then trust me. Everything is ok. What's important right now is you. You need to rest, to heal. Soon you'll be up and around and fine. You just concentrate on healing."  
Sango sighed softly, "I have nothing else I _can_ do."  
"Good!" Kagome said, startling Sango, "That means you'll put everything into it!"  
Weakly, Sango laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

He followed the scent, pushing his way through the dry brush, homing in. He didn't have to go too far before he found her.  
Kikyo was seated on the ground, checking over her bow. A quiver lay on the ground before her, a number of arrows scattered about. She seemed to be counting her arrows, taking stock of what she had.  
InuYasha pushed his way out of the brush, walking towards her.  
Hearing him, Kikyo turned quickly, looking to her right. Tense, she relaxed somewhat when she saw who it was.  
InuYasha stood there, just watching her for a second, not quite sure what to say. For her part, Kikyo watched him in return, almost a little warily. After a second, she looked back to her work, sliding the arrows inside the quiver.  
"InuYasha," she said, in way of greeting, "I didn't expect to meet you here."  
"I didn't expect to find you here either. What are you doing?"  
Standing, Kikyo turned to him, "Making sure I have arrows. You've noticed, I assume, there are a lot of strange creatures in the forest now?"  
InuYasha felt alarmed, "Have you been attacked or anything? Are you alright?"  
Kikyo pressed her lips together in a show of annoyance, "I'm fine. Though I cannot say the same of you, or your foolish friends."  
InuYasha paused, uneasy, "What do you mean?"  
Kikyo walked towards him, a look of anger on her face, "What were you doing with those two Kageri? I told you they were dangerous. I see Naraku had them with him - though I'm not surprised. But it seemed as if you took one of them with you! What happened to it? Did you kill it?"  
InuYasha watched her with a sinking feeling, "It _was_ you who shot that white jade arrow."  
"So you saw that? And still you took that thing with you? Are you insane? You should have brought it to me, to kill!"  
"It...it's not that easy, Kikyo."  
Kikyo shook her head, exasperated, "What are you going on about?"  
"Naraku. The Kageri he has is called BloodStar. If you get a chance to kill him do it. But the other one...DarkWind -"  
"It told you it's name? That's very odd. Did it tell you who it's master was? If we can find the master, perhaps we can-"  
"It's Kagome."  
There was silence.  
Kikyo watched him, her face steady, but InuYasha saw anger in her eyes. He wasn't sure why Kikyo would be angry...shouldn't she be worried about Kagome's safety?  
"Kagome has a Kageri? Why?"  
"He...DarkWind is teaching her to use the Shik-"  
"_Will you be quiet about that? No one can use the Shikon!_"  
"Kagome can. I've see-"  
"That was a fluke, InuYasha." Kikyo's voice was cold and hard, "She is lucky her mind was not permanently fried. Don't think that because she managed to use it that one time that sh-"  
"She's used it more than once, Kikyo."  
Kikyo looked at him in shock, eyes wide, "What?"  
InuYasha watched her, quiet. He wasn't sure how much information he should give her, wasn't sure if she would be upset or not. Kikyo seemed to have trouble accepting that Kagome now carried the jewel, and she seemed upset that the other woman had managed to use it. He remembered her asking after Kagome once, in a rather cruel manner, not asking if Kagome were ok, just if the Shikon were still in one piece.  
Kikyo narrowed her eyes, "No, that's impossible."  
"Kikyo-"  
"It's impossible, I tell you! I couldn't use it, it can't be used like that!"  
Silence.  
Kikyo looked at him again, "So, Kagome was enough of an idiot as to let a Kageri attach itself to her. Why am I not surprised? Well, tell me where she is. I can make quick enough work of it." She lifted an arrow from her quiver, the arrowhead made of white jade.  
"You...you can't."  
Kikyo looked at him, angry, "Don't tell me what I can or cannot do, InuYasha. As a priestess, I can get rid of that thing."  
"Kikyo-"  
"You seem to have some sort of feelings for her," Kikyo said coldly, "You should be thanking me for getting rid of it. She can't take care of herself, apparently, so I will."  
"Kikyo, they're bonded. If you try to kill DarkWind, Kagome will be hurt."  
He remembered how she had behaved when DarkWind had been forcefully removed from their bond. How she had cried, saying she felt empty, hollow. How she hurt.  
"It will pass, InuYasha. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."  
"Listen to me," he said lowly, "I'm not exactly fond of him, but DarkWind _is_ helping Kagome learn to control the Shikon. And he's not all that bad, he jus-"  
"Not all that bad!? Are you listening to yourself?! I would expect that monk to know better! What's the matter with him, can't he see if for what it is?"  
"Izumi sent DarkWind to Kagome. There's no way she would do that if DarkWind was any real threat to her."  
"And who is this Izumi?"  
"She's a friend, she...she's the Handmaiden of Amaterasu."  
Kikyo stepped back, shocked. The woman she had met in the forest. She _knew_ that had been a Handmaiden! All her life she had dreamed, had hoped she would one day be found worthy to meet one! And now one was here!  
Only...  
"You say the Handmaiden sent this Kageri to Kagome? Why?"  
"I told you, to use the Shikon."  
"You...you've met her? Kagome has met her?"  
InuYasha nodded, "Yeah. She's helping Kagome."  
Kikyo looked away, anger smouldering in her heart. Kagome. Why was Kagome being granted the honour of meeting a Handmaiden? She wasn't even a Priestess! Why was Kagome able to use the Shikon? What was so damned special about Kagome?  
"So...just...let DarkWind be. He's not a threat to us. He's not a threat to anyone, expect the other Kageri. That one I-"  
"Leave me."  
InuYasha blinked, "What?"  
"I said leave me. I want to be alone, to think."  
InuYasha frowned, "I..."  
Kikyo turned to him, anger hot in her eyes, "Are you deaf? Go away, InuYasha, leave me alone."  
He paused, "Tell me you're not going to go after DarkWind."  
"What does it matter to you if I do?"  
"Because it would hurt Kagome."  
Kikyo glared at him.  
InuYasha spoke softly, "I wouldn't let Kagome hurt you either, Kikyo. You know that."  
The Priestess' voice was hard, "You're pathethic, InuYasha. Go back to your friends. I give you my word I won't hurt your little friend. I have other, more important things to do."  
She turned, walking away from him, crossing the clearing in swift, angry strides.  
InuYasha called out to her once, but she ignored him, and kept walking.

The Demon Lord woke as quietly and completely as he had fallen asleep. Sesshomaru was not one to drift, nor was he one to wake slowly, groggy and slow. It was as if he had an on/off button. When he woke, he woke to a completely alert and aware state. One wouldn't know he had been asleep at all.  
Sesshomaru rarely slept. He didn't really need it, but every few days he needed to rest a little. Though even in his sleep, he was semi-aware of what was going on around him. Nothing could ever sneak up on him.  
A soft sound had awoken him, and he looked across the remains of the fire, at the woman who slept there.  
The sun had risen, though barely. It was just light enough to see around without the aid of a fire. Izumi's form was easy to make out, as she slept on the ground.  
Sesshomaru was somewhat surprised to see Izumi did not sleep as he had somewhat expected her to. Usually graceful, quiet, prim and proper, he was slightly amused to see her. While she was not sprawled about, one arm was thrown out away from her, as she had been waving at something in her sleep, and her long black hair was in a wild disarray about herself, completely covering her face. She was so still, it was apparent she slept deep...perhaps that was why she lay so oddly.  
Another soft sound, and he watched her as she slowly awoke.  
Unlike Sesshomaru, Izumi came to slowly. He assumed it was her exhausted state that did it...Izumi did not seem the slow type.  
She sat up, pushing her hair back from her face, gazing around the clearing in slight confusion. The confusion deepened when her eyes met his, frowning slightly. She had a look of, _What am I doing here?_ for a few seconds, before comprehension came to her eyes.  
Sitting up completely, she pushed her hair back into place, as much as possible, and smiled at him, "Well. Good morning. I trust I did not snore?"  
"You did not. You slept very deeply."  
"I did," she said, nodding, "And I feel very rested. Thank you, Lo-"  
"You need to sleep more."  
Izumi paused, "Well...yes, I-"  
Sesshomaru stood up, "You will return to your Palace each night, and rest."  
Izumi arched a brow, not realizing it but doing a wonderful imitation of the Demon Lord, "Oh?"  
He regarded her, "You will do yourself no good if you are so exhausted that Omek or his minions take you by surprise. You are not a fool. You will rest more."  
Izumi stood up, brushing some grass from her robe, "Lord Sesshomaru, I appreciate your concern, but I cannot simply-"  
"You can, and you shall."  
Izumi looked at him, incredulous, "Are you giving me an order?"  
Sesshomaru regarded her in silence for a second. He couldn't give her an order without seeming as if he were taking her side in the war to come. But he was The Neutral One.  
Sesshomaru looked away, "Don't be ridiculous." His voice sounded bored, annoyed.  
"Then do not tell me-"  
He looked back, anger suddenly growing, "I watched you sleep, My Lady. You slept so deeply a herd of horses could have run through the clearing and trampled you into the ground and you would not have awoken. How do you expect to protect yourself if you are so weary you cannot sense when your enemies approach? You are not a fool, stop acting like one."  
Anger rose in Izumi's face, "I did not ask you for you opinion, Lord Sesshomaru."  
"And yet I give it," he walked towards her, anger now in his face, "If your Lady is as important to you as you say she is, you should want to give her your full strength. If I expected Jakken to perform an action for me, I would be angry if he did not ensure he was ready to meet all challenges. Stop behaving like some simple slave girl and use sense."  
Izumi's voice cracked through the clearing, "_Lord Sesshomaru!_"  
They stood face to face, anger in their eyes, in their faces, in the tension of her bodies.  
His voice hot with anger, "Have I angered you?"  
"Yes!"  
"Good. I am glad to see you are capable of it. Being so peaceful and maudlin all the time grows boring."  
Sesshomaru felt heat rise around him, as if he stepped next to a roaring fire, aware it was coming off of her. Her skin started to look as if it were slightly burnished, like heated metal, though very slightly.  
"Well," her voice was hard with anger, "I apologise if I am _boring_ the Lord of the Western Reaches. If I bore you so much, why do you not remove yourself from my presence?"  
"A question I wish I had the answer to."  
"Then let me relive you of any burden you seem to feel! Take no concern of me! Why should you even care if I am rested or not, or if I am ready to defend myself or not?"  
"Because your foolishness may cause you injury and I may not be there to prevent it!"  
Silence.  
Izumi looked at him, anger fading out, confusion taking her place.  
For his part, Sesshomaru turned from her, walking several feet away, angry and furious with himself. Why did it matter? Let the fool get herself killed if that was what she wanted. It meant nothing to him.  
Why did those words slip from his lips? Why had he not even known he was saying them?  
Izumi spoke, her voice subdued, "Lord Sesshomaru."  
Fighting his anger under control, sliding his smooth, calm mask back in place, he turned, regarding her as if disinterested.  
Izumi opened her mouth to speak, closed it again. Then she spoke, "Forgive me. I did not mean..."  
Sesshomaru looked away for a second, smothering down his anger. _Why must she apologise all the time? Can she not allow herself to be angry? Indignant?_  
She spoke again, "You are right, of course. It makes no sense to wear myself to the point that my enemies may sneak up on me and attack me. And...I am honoured you say you would prevent such a thing, if you could."  
Sesshomaru did not turn, said nothing. To speak now might be to admit he was wrong. And of course Sesshomaru was not wrong.  
He heard her step towards him, "Sesshomaru, please. I wish to know we are still on speaking terms with each other. I would hate to lose your friendship. I fear...I am not used to someone other than Mother Amaterasu giving me orders." She softly laughed.  
Sesshomaru turned, gazing at her with his cool golden eyes, "Will you visit Rin?" He would not speak of anything that had just happened.  
Izumi shook her head sadly, "I cannot. I should return. Will you please tell her I miss her, and will try to see her as soon as I can?"  
Sesshomaru assented with a slight nod.  
Iaumi smiled, "Thank you. And thank you for watching over me. I slept easy, knowing you were there."  
Sesshomaru doubted that. Izumi fell asleep so swiftly, and so deeply, he doubted she even thought twice about it.  
Yet it had been a polite thing to say.  
Bowing her head to him, Izumi turned, and walked out of the clearing.  
Sesshomaru did not move, did not speak, just watched her go.

Days passed.  
Sango grew stronger, stayed away longer. She was soon able to sit up, resting her back against a wall. Her friends came to see her more often.  
One night Kagome brought her a special treat; grilled fish. Sango needed more than just broth now, solid food was on the menu. It was only a very small piece, and there was mostly bread and butter to eat, but a little protein would help.  
Kagome and Sango sat one evening as the sun went down, eating their fish. InuYasha, DarkWind, and Miroku were helping the villagers move some supplies. The two women sat in comfortable silence, eating, talking very lowly.  
Sango had a piece of bread and a small piece of fish. She ate several bites of her fish before putting it down, giving it to Kirara to eat.  
"Sango? Are you ok?"  
"Oh yes," Sango smiled, "I'm full. My stomach seems to have shrunk a little."  
"Well, there's still a lot of fish left, so if you feel hungry again, let me know, ok?"  
Sango nodded, "Ok. But there's something you can do for me now, Kagome."  
Kagome put down her empty plate, "Ok, what?"  
"Tell me what happened, and what happened to Miroku."  
Kagome blinked, leaning back, "What?"  
"He's still wearing those strange clothes. Where are his robes? Why is he wearing his hair like that? What happened to me, Kagome? When I first came here, those herb bundles weren't on the roof. They're died out, they've been there a while. How long was I unconscious?"  
Kagome laughed nervously, "Wow, you're very observant! You noticed all that? I would never have noticed anything like that! I'm so scatterbrai-"  
"Kagome."  
Falling silent, Kagome looked at Sango, leaning against the wall. Her friend's face was still so pale, but the dark circles were fading from under her eyes, and her voice was almost as strong as it had always been.  
"Sango, I'm not sure-"  
"Kagome. I want to know. _Now_."  
Sighing deeply, Kagome moved to sit next to Sango.  
"You remember that monster you fought? The thing that came out of the portal?"  
"Yes. It...it hurt me. It pinned..." Sango grimaced, touching her stomach with her hands.  
Kagome nodded, then spoke carefully, "Sango...it killed you."  
Sango's head rose, her eyes shocked, "What?"  
"It killed you, Sango. You were dead."  
"I...no. I can't have been." Sango laughed nervously.  
"You were, Sango. You have to trust me."  
Sango fell silent, her eyes going to the two little bumps her feet made under the blanket. Kirara, sensing Sango's sudden mood change, mewed, and crawled into her lap. Sango silently stroked the little feline.  
After a minute, she looked up, "So...I was like...that time we were both...gone? You were became that other woman, and I was trapped in the sword. It was like that?"  
Kagome swallowed, "No. You were...completely and really dead, Sango."  
"How...how did I..?"  
"Amaterasu brought you back. Sort of. You were needed for a battle."  
Sango's eyes got bigger, "A battle?"  
Kagome nodded, "There was this big...oh I need to start from the beginning so you understand. You died, and we...we grieved, Sango. I missed you, so much." Kagome reached out, and took Sango's hand, squeezing it.  
Sango squeezed it back, both in affeection, and for support, "So..how long was I..."  
Kagome swallowed again, "About a month."  
_"What!?"_ Sango's face became white.  
"But you're back now, Sango! You're here! Try to stay calm, please! I knew I shouldn't have told you! It's too much, and too early! You-"  
"No I want to know! I was...what _happened_ to me? To my..." she looked down at herself, touching her body through the blanket.  
"Izumi took you, and took you to the Celestial Palace. Where you would lie in state, she said. Never corrupting."  
"Lie in state? I'm no..."  
"You died in service to Amaterasu, Izumi said. So that would be your reward."  
Sango covered her face with her hands, trembling.  
Kagome leaned forward, hugging Sango tight, "You're back with us now, that's all that matters. You're back and we love you, and you're back again."  
Sango hugged Kagome back, tight, as if afraid she might somehow vanish.  
After a few minutes, she took a shaky breath, leaning back, "So how did I..."  
"There was a monster. Attacking all these people. Izumi couldn't do anything about it, it could kill Senmin. Suddenly, you were there, and you fought it, and killed it. Because it couldn't be killed by anyone alive or dead. Which...you were. You fought it, and you won. And you...chose to come back to us."  
"Chose? What do you mean, I chose?"  
"Izumi offered you the chance to become the third Handmaiden. But you said no. You said something else, but I couldn't hear. But then you...became human again, and we brought you here to heal."  
Sango leaned back in the hut, eyes closed, taking it all in.  
Kagome watched her, nervous, "Are you ok?"  
"I just...it's all...I don't..."  
"Yeah," Kagome said, "I know. I went through it once too, remember?"  
Sango opened her eyes, looking back at her, and nodded.  
Kagome let out a deep breath. She knew it was a hard thing to accept, but she had been afraid Sango might...panic somehow, and hurt herself more.  
She was getting ready to get up, when Sango spoke again.  
"And Miroku?"  
Kagome paused. She looked at Sango, unsure.  
Sango saw the look on her face, and grew uneasy, "Kagome? Is Miroku ok?"  
Carefully settling herself back down, she spoke, "He is now. Now that you're back, Sango. But he...he had a very hard time of it."  
Sango was quiet, "He did?"  
"You...you died in his arms."  
Sango paled again, one hand rising to her throat, "I...what?"  
Kagome shook her head, "InuYasha, Izumi and I were away from you guys, remember? Well...Izumi sensed something happened, and when we ran back to where you were...we saw Miroku, sitting on the ground. You were in his arms...dead."  
Sango put her hands in her lap, looking down at them, silent. Shocked.  
"He blamed himself."  
Sango's head lifted, "What? What do you mean?"  
Tiredly, Kagome rubbed her face, "He said he failed you, Sango. That as a monk, he should have spoken with you to absolve your spirit, so you could go into the next world free of sin, so that you could be reincarnated easily. But he didn't. He panicked. So he failed you. So he...put aside the robes. He's not a monk anymore."  
"_No!"_  
"Sango-"  
_"That fool!"_ she cried, "_That stupid fool!_ How could he blame himself?! He's only human!"  
Kagome spoke lowly, "I know, Sango, I know. We tried to talk him back into it, but he refused. He says if he couldn't do you the proper thing when you needed him most, he's not fit to be a monk. So he put aside the robes."  
"How could he be so stupid!?" she cried, and Kagome was scared to see there were tears in Sango's eyes.  
"What's going on?" InuYasha's voice came from outside, "Is everything alright?"  
"Yes!" Kagome suddenly yelled out, "It's fine, it-"  
"I want to speak to him!" Sango suddenly cried, angry and upset, "Miroku? Are you out there?"  
There was a shocked silence for a second, then Miroku's voice, uneasy, approaching the hut, "Sango? What's wrong?"  
"Come in here!" she cried, "I want to talk to you!"  
Kagome started to panic. She waved her hands at Sango, "Sango, please, you have to calm down, you can't be upset, it's not good for you."  
The door of the hut slid back, and Miroku walked in. The sun had just set, casting the sky outside in brilliant reds and yellows. They reflected inside the hut, warming the old wood.  
Miroku blinked at Sango, worried, "What's wrong?"  
"How could you do it?" Sango yelled at him, "You've always been a monk!"  
Miroku turned to Kagome, anger on his face, "Kagome!"  
"I'm sorry!" Kagome shook her head, "She demanded to know, Miroku, I did-"  
"Don't be angry at her!" Sango demanded, "I made her tell me! I wanted to know why you weren't wearing your robes!"  
Miroku looked uneasy, "Sango, I-"  
Sango raised a hand, stopping him. Her face was pale with anger. She spoke in calm tones to Kagome, "Would you excuse us, please? I need to talk to this idiot."  
Not meeting anyone's eyes, Kagome scrabbled out of the hut, wringing her hands, "Oh no oh no oh no oh no..."  
InuYasha and DarkWind hurried to her, "What's going on?"  
"I'm such an idiot!" Kagome wailed.

Miroku spoke quietly, "Sango-"  
"Sit down, and tell me why you suddenly seem to have lost your brain."  
Sighing deeply, Miroku walked over and sat next to her. Sango studied his face, seeing again the pinched, tired look on his face. There was a shadow to his eyes she didn't like...he looked like he had shortly after Neith had forced him through that horrible test, where he had been tortured.  
"Well?" she demanded.  
He looked at her in silence for a second, then spoke, "How could I call myself a monk when I failed to do my duty to one of my dearest friends, Sango? I let your soul go without any chance to release your sins. If I can't do that for someone I care so much for, I do not deserve to wear the robes. I failed you, Sango. Can you forgive me?"  
Sango shook her head, and spoke, "That has to be the stupidest, craziest thing I have ever heard. Are you even hearing yourself?"  
"Sango-"  
"You behaved like a human, so you're not fit to be a monk. Well. According to that, we need to lose a lot of monks then. You have some very high standards, Miroku."  
"You don't underst-"  
"You're _right_ I don't understand! If I failed to kill a demon everytime I went after one, should I strip myself of my title of demon slayer?"  
"This is different, Sango."  
"How is it?" she demanded.  
Miroku sighed, running his fingers through his bangs, "This isn't just me not doing my job. The one thing I needed to do. The one thing you needed from me at that moment...and I couldn't do it. I didn't even think of it, Sango, I just panicked."  
Her voice came to him then, her breath soft in his ear, her voice weak..._"I'm sorry Miroku. Our children would have been so beautiful..."_  
"Miroku," Sango said gently, "When first we met, you were proud of your status as a monk, and you...well...let us just say you had some bad traits."  
Miroku opened his mouth, but Sango cut him off.  
"Since then, you have only become a better monk. Look at what you did for those two sisters. You fought, that they had the chance to be reincarnated again, and not be cast into hell. Look at how happily you perform your duties when we come to a village. They flock around you, for healing, for spiritual aid. They can see in your face, Miroku, that you are a good man."  
Sango took his hand, "And you are a good man, Miroku. But you're human. A friend lay dying near you, and you panicked. I would be worried about you if you had been able to calmly perform those rites. I know you would be able to do it for someone else when they needed it, but you are human too. You are allowed to panick when you think you are losing a friend."  
Miroku looked down into his lap, "I don't know if I can, Sango. I have so many doubts about myself now."  
Sango smiled softly, "That's to be human too, Miroku. You never had a crisis of faith before. You're having one now. But I believe in you. We trust you with our lives, and our souls, Miroku. You were born to be a monk."  
"I failed you, Sango."  
"No, Miroku. You didn't fail me. You could never fail me. I know this. We all know you could never fail us."  
There was silence. Miroku kept his head bent, hair falling into his face, obscuring it. He took a deep, shuddering breath, and Sango was shocked to see he was trying to keep his emotions in check...possibly fighting to keep himself from crying.  
She said nothing, giving him time to get himself under control. He held her hand tightly all the while.  
After a short while, he looked up, smiling. It was a self-mocking sort of smile, but she was glad to see it all the same. It looked a little more like Miroku's smile.  
"Now then," he said softly, voice a little husky, "You should rest. You've had a scare, had a good yell, and now you're going to be tired. Would you like me to send Kagome back in?"  
Sango slid down, pulling the blankets up over herself again, "Yes, please. She's probably out there kicking herself."  
Miroku still held her hand, "She was worried about you. We are were."  
Sango smiled.  
Miroku pulled the blanket up, tucking it around her a little. He paused, looking into her face. Sango fell silent, looking back.  
"Miroku?"  
"Sango..." he fell silent, then spoke firmly, "When you are better...when you are back on your feet...you and I are going to talk."  
Sango frowned, "What?"  
Miroku laid his other hand over hers, and smiled, "And this time, you will not be able to run from it. I won't let you. Not anymore."  
Sango's heart started to hammer, "What? Miroku?"  
"I'm not letting you do it anymore. Forgive me...I shouldn't be putting this on you now, as well, but I need you to know. I have tried to tell you certain things...and you have always changed the subject, and ran. No longer. You will put me off no longer, Sango."  
Sango tried to speak, but could only squeak a little.  
Miroku rubbed her hands, to warm them, "I'll give you time to think about this. To settle yourself. We won't be talking tomorrow, or the next day. But we _will_ talk, Sango. It will all come out, one way or the other. We will talk. I will talk, and you will listen to all I have to say. You will put me off no longer."  
He smiled at her, a charming smile only Miroku could smile. Dipping his head, he kissed her hand, then rose, and slipped out into the night. Sango heard him tell Kagome she could go back in again.  
She closed her eyes, feeling the world spinning, and wondered what she was going to do.

END


End file.
